In Australia we have some slightly unusual names for clothing.
Where do expressions such as ‘duds’, ‘togs’ and ‘strides’ come from?
We’ll take those three in order.
‘Duds’ meaning clothes in general appears to be a surprisingly old word.
The Oxford says that as long ago as 1355 ‘duds’ appeared in the English language meaning ‘a cloak or mantle, perhaps esp. one made of coarse cloth (obsolete). In later use: (in plural) clothes.’
So, that’s the history.
But why?
Why did anyone, at any time, chose to call clothes ‘duds’?
The Oxford begins by (unhelpfully) saying ‘origin unknown’—but then they have a guess.
In Middle English the word was ‘duddis’ and this might be related to words such as ‘dowdy’ (shabby, dull) and ‘duff’ (not worth very much) because ‘duddis’ appears to have (originally) been used to describe the clothing of paupers.
And that’s about all the experts can tell us.
(But clearly ‘duds’ has come up in the world from shabby clothes to meaning just any clothes.)
As for ‘togs’—it is now largely an Australian word and is mostly used (at least in parts of Australia) to mean ‘swimmers.’
That’s because the full expression is ‘swimming togs’ or ‘bathing togs.’
However, before that special application ‘togs’ just meant clothes in general.
As for the source of ‘togs’—it seems to go all the way back to the main garment that clothed the citizens of the ancient Roman empire—the toga.
‘Toga’ was the Latin name for an outer cloak or mantle, and it came into English (perhaps around the 1600s) meaning a cloak or loose coat.
Then over time the meaning broadened to cover all clothes in general (‘Getting dressed up in your good togs tonight for the party?’)
Then there’s ‘strides’ meaning a pair of trousers.
Today this is mainly Australian, but it started as tailoring slang in Britain, when tailors would talk about the length of ‘stride’ (legs stretched out to the widest possible step) in a pair of breeches or trousers.
Then the trousers themselves came to be called ‘strides.
And by the way, these three words only exist in the plural form (just like ‘pants’)—it would be nonsense to try to talk about a ‘dud’, a ‘tog’ or a ‘stride’ (unless you used that last word to refer to walking and not clothing!)
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